Jazz at Latymer with Digby Fairweather, Wendy Nieper and Mark Wallace

Jazz at Latymer with Digby Fairweather, Wendy Nieper and Mark Wallace

October 15, 2018

Last Friday, the talented trio of Mark Wallace, Head of Economics, Wendy Nieper, a classical soprano and jazz vocalist, and Digby Fairweather, a multi-award-winning jazzman took to the Edward Latymer Theatre for a lively display of the best of jazz. The event was the first time the three had played together for seven years, and their immense skill did the jazz standards justice, from The Lady is a Tramp to Cry Me a River.

Fairweather’s great knowledge of jazz shone through between songs; before the trio gave a particularly beautiful rendition of The Nearness of You, the audience were educated on Hoagy Carmichael, the “only American songwriter that wrote about everything”. Beside the history of jazz, Digby was also keen to recall his own history with Mark Wallace. The pair, who are now best friends, met at the Birmingham International Jazz Festival in 1991 where they played together, with Digby praising Mark for “having the jazz boogie woogie down really well”.

The warmth between the trio was touching as they complimented each other’s improvisation. They harmonised through Georgia, Day and Night and, in Digby’s opinion, “the greatest of all torch ballads”, Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be?) , during which he announced Wendy Nieper to be his “favourite singer". It was easy to see why as her impressive vocal range and scatting engaged the audience throughout the evening.

The group has just recorded an album and some of the songs are now available on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon.

All proceeds from evening and the sales of the music are going to the Bursaries Appeal which is a key part of Latymer Foundation’s Inspiring Mindscampaign. This year’s Bursaries Appeal hopes to fund five new bursaries for entry to the Upper School next September.